Supercooled liquid shines bright like lava when touched (VIDEO)

Scientists have devised an organic liquid that glows dark red under UV light, but turns into bright golden crystals when touched. Its creators say it could be used for high-precision medical sensors or for memory storage in optic computers.

The phenomenon, called
crystallization-induced emission enhancement, happens when
certain luminophores start emitting light more efficiently after
turning from a liquid to a solid state. A compound called
diketopyrrolopyrrole, or DPP, is among them, and a team of
researchers from the University of Michigan used its derivatives to create a solution with
unusual properties.

The liquid they created has a melting point of 134 degrees
Celsius.

As long as it is kept clean, a liquid can be cooled below its
melting point and not turn solid, which is called supercooling.
But given a point of nucleation, supercooled liquid quickly
crystalizes in a chain reaction. In nature supercooled droplets
of water are responsible for freezing rains or the icing of
high-flying aircraft.

The DPP8 solution described in the study can remain stable in a
supercooled state, going as low as 0 degrees Celsius. Unlike many
organic liquids, this one does not crystalize at temperature
change, the study said. But even a small amount of shearing force
– touch or steering – triggers crystallization. Seeding a living
cell on a liquid DDP8 film may trigger the reaction, potentially
making the solution a key element for very sensitive medical
sensors.

“When cells are seeded on a substrate, they spread and
establish focal contacts on the substrate. These focal adhesions
transmit intracellular tension generated by the actin
cytoskeleton into traction force against extracellular substrate.
Simply speaking, cells have ‘hands’ to hold substrate when they
attach on a surface and these hands give traction force to hold
the surface tight,” Kyeongwoon Chung, a co-author of the
study, told RT.

Another possible application is for memory storage. Crystalized
DPP8 may be turned back into liquid by simple heating. With dim
red standing for 0 and bright gold for 1, the solution could be
used in computers using light instead of electricity, researchers
say.

“We can write by touching, erase with annealing, and read
data with optical image under UV light. But for the practical
application, it would require much more development,” Chung
said.